In May 2026, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that Fifth Third Bank is the new financial agency for the Direct Express program. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service made the selection following its procurement process. As of May 2026, all new enrollments in Direct Express are being processed through Fifth Third Bank.
Current Direct Express cardholders will see their accounts transition from prior vendor Comerica to Fifth Third Bank later this year or early 2027. SSA has stated that those cardholders will receive advance notice of the transition. In the meantime, they should continue to use their Comerica-issued cards, which will remain valid until their expiration dates.
In connection with the transition, SSA issued Emergency Message (EM) 26005-REV on May 19, 2026. The agency emphasized that ‘[t]here are no immediate impacts to SSA’s existing DE customers, and existing SSA DE processes will remain status quo until further notice.” SSA staff are instructed to follow existing protocols, and refer customers to Direct Express for card issues. Customers may reach Direct Express by telephone at 1-833-347-9777.
This transition may be significant given longstanding concerns regarding customer service under Comerica. Many advocates have reported difficulty resolving account freezes, unauthorized transactions, and other urgent issues through vendor channels. SSA’s role in addressing these problems has historically been limited, even where beneficiaries face significant hardship. Both SSA’s Office of Inspector General and the Treasury Department’s OIG have issued reports identifying deficiencies in program oversight, enrollment processing, and dispute resolution.
Beneficiaries should keep their addresses current with SSA so as to receive any notices in a timely manner. Advocates should help ensure that clients understand the notices and are prepared to activate the new cards when issued.
